About Us

As specialist family law solicitors and mediators, we understand that every client and their family are unique. We also know that divorce and separation can influence every aspect of life. That's why it takes a personalised approach to make sure vital family relationships are preserved.

Sharp Family Law is the largest niche firm of family solicitors in Bath and Bristol. Since 2008, we’ve represented many clients seeking to minimise the financial and emotional cost of divorce and separation – supporting them to secure the best outcome for themselves and their families.

Empowering people to move on with life

From non-adversarial methods – such as collaborative law and mediation – to court litigation, there are many means to achieve a divorce or separation. We help our clients find the best one for their circumstances, providing them with all the support they need to make informed decisions about what’s right for them.

Read more about our mission, approach and philosophy. Or get in touch to talk about how we can help you find peace of mind and move on.

Our Mission

At Sharp Family Law, we understand that divorce and separation are not simply legal or financial processes. We know they affect all aspects of a couple’s life, in unique ways. So we strive to provide each client with a customised service that fits their individual needs. One that encompasses everything from children and finances to emotional wellbeing, and empowers clients to plan their future with confidence.

Our Clients

Although our clients are all different, they often share similar goals including:

Protecting important relationships, including with their children, post-divorce

Avoiding the time and financial and emotional cost that come with prolonged conflict and court litigation

A fair division of financial wealth generated by the marriage

Maintaining control of the process and outcome, leaving the decision making in their hands

An individualised ‘whole person’ approach customised to their unique family situation.

Owners of businesses and their families (typically owner-managed businesses within private companies or partnerships, company directors and managers)

Couples in which one person is the sole breadwinner

Families and individuals with international connections (particularly in the US but also parts of Europe plus returning ex-pats from the Middle and Far East).

Our Philosophy

At Sharp Family law, we’re committed to helping clients:

Maintain their respect and dignity in difficult timesDivorce and separation often leave otherwise kind, thoughtful people struggling to manage their emotions. We work with many clients who wish to work through the process with self-respect and dignity.

Achieve what is most important to themFrom achieving a fair financial settlement to doing what is best for children, many of our clients want to constructively resolve all differences with their partner.

Work through the emotional, financial and legal issuesWe take a bigger picture approach to provide support on all aspects of divorce and separation – helping clients reach outcomes that are best for them and their family.

Our Approach

Our goal is to help you to find common ground and reach solutions by:

Listening to the issuesyou face and understanding what you and your family need to move beyond separation and divorce.

Giving you information, guidance and support that will help you identify what’s most important to you, and reach agreements that will enable you to achieve it.

Consider all dispute resolution options and make informed decisions

We tell all our clients about the wide spectrum of resolution methods available – from non-adversarial approaches to litigation. We’ve helped many clients find creative solutions that work for their families, but which couldn’t have been crafted by the divorce courts.

Helping you develop a strategy, build a professional support team, and move through the process to begin the rest of your life.

Working with other professionals, including financial planners, relationship consultants and child specialists, who can work with you to address your emotional and financial needs – while we take care of the legal side.

Our Costs

At Sharp Family Law we want to understand what’s most important to you. So, before we meet for the first time we will, wherever possible, send you a short questionnaire. This helps us better discover your goals and interests. And it makes sure that, starting with the initial meeting, time is sent on what you need.

We’ll only ever charge you for the time our solicitors spend working on your instructions, along with any third party expenses such as court fees. We’ll record time spent on actions including the following:

Attending meetings and holding phone calls with you

Considering, preparing and working on papers for your case

Writing letters, emails, making phone calls and attending meetings with others involved in your case, including travel time

Attending and representing you at court

Hourly rates and fixed prices

Time spent on your case will be charged at the hourly rate of the solicitor undertaking the work and we’ll give you full details of these rates at our first meeting.

We understand that divorce and separation are expensive, and try to keep our costs affordable and proportionate. We offer, whenever possible, fixed prices for an uncontested divorce, and for other types of uncontested legal work,. We can also agree fees on a session-by-session basis for Family Mediation and Collaborative Law.

Financial support

We’re not able to offer publically funded law services (formerly known as legal aid) for couples looking to divorce. However, if you’re on a low income, you may qualify for government support for your family law issue. To find out whether you qualify, go to www.gov.uk/check-legal-aid.